Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

From the Stage to the Executive Suite: How James Roe's Career as an Oboist Prepared Him to Lead the Orchestra of St. Luke's

After more than two decades as one of New York City's busiest freelance oboists, James Roe decided to pivot his career. 

He packed up his oboe case, reed knife, and metronome to take on leadership positions at two of the ensembles he had regularly performed with. First he spent two years as president and CEO of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, before moving into his current role as president and executive director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, where he's been since 2015.

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Why Time for Three Is Itching to Do Classical Music Differently

In business, marketing strategies often revolve around defining your ideal customer. What specific interests and demographics do they represent? The more specific you are in your targeting, the better.

But Time for Three proves just how wrong that approach to building an audience can be. Performing their unique blend of Americana, modern pop, and classical music, the acclaimed string trio has grown a large fan base that defies demographics — people who are just as likely to listen to Brahms as bluegrass and the Beatles.

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Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Dmitry Sitkovetsky on the Year That Changed His Musical Career and Celebrating 20 Years Leading the Greensboro Symphony

1983 proved a pivotal year in violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky's life. That was the year the Azerbaijan-born musician became a U.S. citizen, married his wife, and bought the Stradivarius violin he still plays to this day. It was also the year he discovered Glenn Gould's final recording of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations.

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Podcast Jonathan Eifert Podcast Jonathan Eifert

Mozart Meets Betty Boop: How Joel Pierson and the Queen's Cartoonists Are Getting People Hooked on Classical Music and Jazz with Classic Cartoons

From dinosaurs dancing to The Rite of Spring in Disney's Fantasia to a tuxedoed Bugs Bunny performing Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, classic cartoons have long been a delightful entry point for kids of all ages to get to know classical music.

That's a tradition composer and jazz pianist Joel Pierson is breathing new life into as artistic director of The Queen's Cartoonists. Working at the crossroads of classical music, jazz, and the golden age of animation, The Queen's Cartoonists perform the scores of classic animated films from around the world, perfectly synchronizing their brilliant jazz-band arrangements with the films projected on stage.

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